Motor vehicles are being equipped in increasing measure with driver assistance systems that support the driver in driving a motor vehicle. A driver assistance system described in German Patent Application No. DE 10 2004 013 818 recognizes maneuvers in which other vehicles pull into and out of the lane, so that the assistance system can respond in good time. Here vehicles in adjacent lanes are constantly monitored to determine whether they are entering the lane of the host vehicle or have left it. To that end, an image processing system recognizes vehicles traveling ahead of the vehicle.